Author: Jim O'Leary
Jim started writing for PSP around the same time the Union announced they were looking to hire a Chief Tattoo Officer. Those two facts probably aren't related, but what if they were? He's on twitter @thejimoleary, but be warned it's only about 60% soccer.

I wonder if the “resistance” vote might have been better served with one candidate. If it were a three-way race between Cordeiro, Carter and Martino, for example. Not saying the result would have been different, but Martino’s more measured reform approach might have gotten a better a hearing. I thought he struck a good balance of calling for change while promising to listen and to make decisions based on empirical evidence and research. Oh well.

ESPN FC reported on Friday (I think, maybe Thursday) that there was a last ditch effort for 6 candidates to lump their lot in with each other, but they were having squabbles between themselves and nothing was assured. Looks like they never did get it together. Maybe if they had started sooner they could have come to an agreement.
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I’m just glad it wasn’t Kathy Carter. Not entirely excited by Codeiro either, but we’ll see.

Don’t look at their totals, look at who voted for who. The professional leagues voted for Carter (and no wonder as USL and NWSL are largely made up of MLS owners). She got a few votes here and there beyond that.
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Corderio nearly got less votes than Wynalda (and easily less than Wynalda and Martino combined) EXCEPT the Athletes Council voted in block for Corderio so they could play king makers. Corderio promised more athlete inclusion in USSF with official positions being added.
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So basically he won because he promised the Athletes Council more power. Stu Holden’s comments on Fox Sports seem to indicate this.
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If the athlete’s council had backed Martino instead (they were reportedly deciding between Martino, Corderio, and Carter), he starts with 28% of the vote leaving Corderio with only 16% and suddenly the election gets very, very interesting.

The part of a possible disconnect that struck me the most was the squabble between Hope Solo and Stu Holden. When Hope lashed out at the Athletes Council for basically selling out, Holden took extreme offense.
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Considering I hold Holden in higher regard than Solo, I think there was so much more involved in this that we don’t and won’t know about. But the general public was WAY off on how this was going to turn out. People may have expected the establishment to win, but the whitewashing was a bit unexpected.

Only in the sense that the soccer world of twitter thinks it’s vision of a FIFA calendar and pro/rel is something that the average state youth league admin gives a shit about. And that’s who voted. Cordeiro visited a ton of them. Wynalda tweeted a lot.
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One knew who the real audience is.

I think that Martino and Wynalda visited with a lot of different associations. Cordeiro had a built-in advantage that he had met all of those voters when he campaigned for the VP position just a few years ago so he was a known entity to them. Plus, they knew that if he lost, they would still have to deal with him in his VP role and if you are a state admin you don’t want to risk alienating him if you didn’t support him.

Starting to think Ernie Stewart is incapable of running a MLS team. Fafa was a bargain basement signing. Ilsinho escaped a war and Medunjanin is his one and only good signing. I think Curtin and Albright had more success signing players before he got here.

Hey man. No one can complain about his signings this year. I mean all of them will surely work out. 100% hit rate (1/1). All players added fill a position of need. Can’t expect him to fill so many glaring holes and still keep our payroll lower than last year. I mean he filled 50% (1/2) of our needs in 1 offseason. What a freaking joke. I could have done a better job.

True. And while I’ve personally been in the “wait and see” crowd since his arrival.
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But it would be a bad move IMO to do so much re-branding (kits, badge) and make a big move for Accam if still in the building phase. Can only cry wolf so many times.

Honest query: what do you realistically expect to see in year 5? I know want you want to see, but do you really see any signs that it is actually happening? I don’t. Shouldn’t there be at least some progress by now?

More than happy to be patient except:
– They should have been playing the kids earlier. Unless these same kids they are playing now really aren’t that good. Is there a Tyler Adams or Kellen Acosta in this group? Or are we still waiting on that U14 stud from FC DelMontBucksco that Earnie touted in one of those town halls?
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The rest of the league has moved to a different model. TFC, Atlanta, NYCFC, LAFC, and eventually Miami have/will raised the bar. Can’t claim I’ve seen any of them play, but my guess is all these young South American players are better than the Academy kids the Union seem to be focused on.
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This is the FO’s own doing. The owner and the GM both gave interviews over the winter – shockingly right around peak ST renewal time – that the club knew what it needed to address and would spend money. Anyone who follows the club knew we weren’t spending like the clubs above, but to not sign a #10 just breaks any trust that remained between the club and the fan base.

Year 3 of 5 and how many good players has be brought it? 3? He’s cleared a ton of room this year and brought in 1 player. I mean come on. Any idiot could have had a better offseason. There is a 10 in NE staring them in the face and they are doing nothing. Year 3 of 5 and we are again counting on Ilsinho to fill our most important spot.